Seal press



Dm.` 2, 1924. Y 1,517,851

t G. A. J. MEYER Y' ASEAL PRESS" Filed Oct. 8, 1923 'ing of this die.

Patented Dec. 2i, 1924.

UNITED STATES PATENT GFFICE.

GUSTAV A. J. MEYER, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR T0 MEYER & WENTI-IE, 0F CHCAGO, ILLINOIS, A COPARTNERSHIP CONSISTNG 0F GUSTAV A. MEYER AND HERMAN H. WENTHE.

SEAL PRESS.

Application filed October 8, 1923. Serial No. 667,166.

To all 'whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, GUSTAV A. J. MEYER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in a Seal Press; and l do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to portable seal presses of the general class commonly known as pocket seal presses, and in its general objects aims to provide novel and advantageous means for latching the actuating lever of the seal in a depressed position and for preventing the movable die of the seal from rotating with respect to the stem carrying the same.

More particularly, my invention provides a simple and cheaply manufactured latching construction so disposed that the latch can readily be manipulatedvby a linger of the hand holding the seal, and also disposes the latch so that it will not be apt to have the lever catch on the same when the latch is in its released position. Furthermore, my invention arranges the cooperating lever and latch portions so that when the lever is latched in its depressed position, the spring employed in the seal for raising the lever will also operate for retaining the latch securely locked, thereby preventing an accidental unlatching of the same.

My invention also provides simple means for preventing an accidental rotation of the movable die, and provides the arrangement for this purpose in a construction which will not interfere with the ready detach Furthermore, my invention provides a construction in which both this last named feature and the latching arrangement can readily be applied to a pocket seal having a body of cast metal, without requiring extensive machine work and without involving an undesirable weakening of any of the parts.

Still further and also more detailed objects will appear from the following speci- Vguide for a sliding sleeve 4e.

tication and from the accompanying draw-.

F ig. 2 is a plan view of the seal press,

taken with the lever and latch in the same position. *Y

F ig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. l, with portions of the seal press in a central vertical section taken longitudinally of the press.

Fig. l is a fragmentary elevation of the seal press, with a part of the lever out away to show the lever in its latched position.

Fig. 5 is an enlarged perspective view of the latching member.

Fig. 6 is an enlarged perspective view of the sleeve which guides the stem of the movable die. 1

ln the illustrated embodiment,"theseal press of my invention comprises a cast body provided at its rear end with a ring lv adapted to be engaged by one finger of the hand holding the seal, this body having its forward end forked to provide a lower horizontal plate 2 upon which the usual counter of the die is formed, the body having on the upper arm of the fork a hollow stem or riser tube 3 in axial alin'ement with the said lower plate. 'lhe bore of the riser tube 3 has its lower portion contracted to a smaller diameter as shown in Fig. 3 and this smaller diametered portion vaffords a Extending through this sleeve l is a. shank 5 of a screw which is threaded at its lower end into the stem 6 of the movable die plate 7. -This screw has a head 8 of a cylindrical contour slidably fitting the main andl larger diametered portion of the bore of the hollow stem or riser tube 3, so that this head will be guided by its engagement with the upper boreportion and will cooperate with the sleeve in maintaining the aXis of the move able die plate in a constant position.

To prevent the movable die plate from rotating with respect to the` lower die plate, l provide the sleeve 4 at its lower end with minute teeth 9 which press into the top of the stem 6 when the screw is tightened, thereby preventing the movable die plate from rotating with respect to the sleeve 4l. I also provide this sleeve, desirably at its upper end, with a laterally projecting finger 10 which is slidably guided in a vertical slot formed in one side of the riser tube 3 as shown in Figs. 1 and 2. lThus arranged, the said slot and finger cooperate in preventing the sleeve from rotating with respect to the body of the press, while the teeth 9 hold the movable die plate stationary with respect to the sleeve, so that all of the elements just named cooperate in preventing the movable die plate from rotating about its own axis. However, upon loosening the screw, the grip of the teeth 9 is released, so that the movable die plate can readily be detached or replaced.

Disposed within the bore of the riser tube 3 between the bottom of the head 8 of the screw and the bottom of the larger diametered portion of the said bor-e is a spiral spring 12, which spring is continuously under compression and hence steadily tends to raise the said screw and the movable die plate carried by the latter. In being raised by the spring, the die plate moves the handled lever which forms the actuating member of the seal. This lever is desirably pivoted on al pin 13 extending transversely of lthe seal at one side of the said bore in the tube 3 and near the lower end of the latter, and the lever is desirably of a forked bcll 'crank formation with a lower arm 14 carrying a roller 15 adapted to travel upon a washer 16 which rests upon the top of the movable die plate 7. The longer or forked arm 'of the lever straddles the upper part ofthe forked body of the press and extends rearwardly of the latter to form a handle 17. This longer and handled arm of the `lever is provided at the inner edge of the bight of its fork with a notch 18'for receivin'g the stem 19 of a latching member. The latching member desirably comprises a fork having arms 2O straddling a relatively narrowribbed portion 21 of the press body and pivoted to this rib on a transverse pin 22, and the said fork of the latching member is connected by the stem 19 to a finger-piece Q3 as shown in Fig. 5.

lever portion through the action of the spring is prevented by the engagement of the top of the lever with the lower edge portions of the fingerepiece Q3. The hitched seal press is then disposed as shown in Fig. 1, which figure also shows that the fingerpiece is in a position where it can readily be pushed out of its latching relation by the thumb of the hand holding the seal.

To prevent the latch from slipping out of its latching position accidentally, I desirably form the portions of the handled lever at opposite sides of the slot 18 so that they will slope upwards forwardly of the press, thereby presenting an acute angle towards the forward face of the finger piece and affording a hump over which the fingerpiece would have to ride if any jarring tended to slip it out of its latching position. However, the proportioning of the parts is such that the lever is slightly raised when thus latched, thereby permitting the lat-ch to be released instantly by first depressing the lever for the rest of the way so that the finger piece can readily clear the said notched edge portion of the fork in the hand lever.

It will be` obvious from theabove that the latching arrangement of my invention is exceedingly simple, easily manipulated and inexpensive in construction; that the lifting action of the single springlQ of the press also operates to hold the latch in its locked position, so that no additional spring is required for this latter purpose; and that no auxiliary fastenings or other elements are required on the lever of the press. So also, it will be evident that the provisions for preventing the rotation of the movable die plate of theipress are exceedingly simple and inexpensive in construction, particularly as the rotation preventing guide sleeve can readily be formed out of sheet metal as shown in Fig. 6 and that the bolt head cooperates in guiding the sleeve so as to maintain the axis of the movable die plate fixed with respect to the press body.

However, while I have illustrated and described both of these important features of my invention in a highly desirable embodiment, I do not wish to be limited to the joint use of the same. Neither do I wish to be limited to the various detailsof con-- struction and arrangement here disclosed, it being` obvious that they might be varied in many ways without departing either from the spirit of my invention or from the appended claims.

I claim as my invention 1. In a seal press, a frame having a lower arm and an upper arm formed with a narrow ribbed top part and a tubular part extending above the ribbed part, a siring pressed die-carrying shank in the tu ular part, a forked lever for operating said die pivoted to the frame and formed with a notch at the bight of the fork, and a latch having a forked lower end straddling and pivoted to the said ribbed top part of the frame adjacent to said tubular part and having a substantially T-shaped head the shank of which head is received in the notch of the lever and the top of which engages the upper face of the lever to hold the latter depressed, said latch in inoperative position being disposed below the lever and with its top resting against said tubular part of the upper arm of the frame.

2. In a seal press, a frame having a vertical bearing, a spring pressed die-carrying shank in 'the bearing, a forked lever for 0perating the die pivoted to the frame and formed with a notch at the bight of the fork, and a latch pivoted to the frame adjacent to said bearing so as to rest against the latter in inoperative position and be disposed beneath the lever, the latch being formed to engage said notch of the lever to hold the latter depressed, the latch in inoperative position being received in the space provided by the forked part of the lever.

3. In a seal press, a frame having a vertical bearing, a spring-tensioned die-carrying member in the bearing, a lever pivoted to the frame for operating said member, and having a slotted part receiving the bearing, and a latch pivoted to the frame and disposed to rest against the bearing in inoperative position and in registry with the slotted part of the lever, whereby upon depression of the lever to latch same in inoperative position, the latch will project through the slotted part of the lever thereby to render same visible and to permit same to be moved about its pivot t0 latch the lever in depressed position.

4. In a seal press, a frame having a vertical bearing, a spring-tensioned die-carrying member in the bearing, a lever pivoted to the frame for operating said member and having a slotted part and a relatively short latch pivoted to the top of the frame and closely adjacent to the bearing and to the lever so as t0 be substantially housed by the lever, the lever having a slotted part through which the latch is visible and projects upon depression of the lever to allow the latch to be moved into latching engagement therewith.v

5. In a seal press, a frame having a vertical bearing, a spring-tensioned die-carrying member in the bearing, a lever pivoted to the Jframe for operating said member and having a slotted part and a relatively short latch pivoted to the top of the frame and closely adjacent to the bearing and to the lever so as to be substantially housed by the lever, said latch in inoperative position resting at an incline against the bearing and with its upper end extendin above the top of the bearing, the lever aving a slotted part through which the latch is visible and projects upon depression of the lever to allow the latch to be moved into a vertical position in latching engagement with the lever.

Signed at Chicago, Illinois, October l, 1923.

GUSTAV A. J. MEYER. 

